WASHINGTON — Jared Polis and Ted Cruz are about as far apart on the political spectrum as two lawmakers can get.

But this week the Boulder Democrat and Texas Republican took the same stance on at least one hot-button issue: Colorado’s right to legalize marijuana.

Addressing fellow conservatives at a conference near Washington, Cruz defended a state’s right to dictate policy within its own borders — even if there’s opposition at the national level.

“If the citizens of Colorado decide they want to go down that road, that’s their prerogative. I don’t agree with it, but that’s their right,” said Cruz, responding to a question about Colorado’s legalization of marijuana.

“I’m proud to join with Ted Cruz in calling on our colleagues in Congress to respect the right of local citizens to decide how to regulate marijuana use, without federal government interference,” Polis said.

“My bipartisan bill, the ‘Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act,’ would do just want Sen. Cruz now supports, leaving it to the states to regulate marijuana how they see fit, and I look forward to seeing Mr. Cruz introduce companion legislation in the Senate, which I expect he will do imminently,” he added.

Gov. John Hickenlooper wears a trout necktie given to him Wednesday by students at Escuela Tlatelolco and the Nuestro Rio Youth Group, thanking him for his efforts in pushing Browns Canyon being declared a national monument. (Governor’s Facebook page)

Gov. John Hickenlooper isn’t known for wearing a necktie but on Wednesday he couldn’t resist. From the governor’s Facebook page:

Had the pleasure of meeting with Nita Gonzales and some of her students from the Escuela Tlatelolco and the Nuestro Rio Youth Group, who came to the Capitol to thank us for supporting the federal designation of #BrownsCanyon as a national monument.

We talked about the importance of protecting Colorado’s wilderness, and the kids gave me this cool trout tie. I thanked them and told them what my mother taught me: “Work hard. Be nice. And never quit.”

Abby Perlmutter, the daughter of Democratic Congressman Ed Perlmutter and Monica Owens, the daughter of former GOP Gov. Bill Owens, at the Western Fantasy gala last year. (Handout)

Poor Abby Perlmutter Miller. On the same day her good friend, Republican Monica Owens, is getting married in Colorado Springs, her father, Congressman Ed Perlmutter, is getting an award in Denver as Democrat of the Year.

The 28-year-old offered to drive back from the Springs Saturday night to see her father being honored at the Colorado Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner. Perlmutter did what any good father would do: He told her to have fun at the reception. (Which trust me, is much more likely to be a blast then a JJ dinner although there is hope: U.S. Sen. Al Franken is the keynote speaker.)

“I love Miss Abby,” Owens said, adding she and the Perlmutter daughter are “political kiddos.” “Although we are on different sides of the aisle, we still understand what it means to be in the political eye.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper and Sen. Larry Crowder share a laugh after the lawmaker gave the governor a Stetson hat. (Senate Republicans)

Sen. Larry Crowder wasn’t impressed with the straw cowboy hat perched on Gov. John Hickenlooper’s head during a National Western Stock Show luncheon so he decided to do something about it. The Alamosa Republican presented the Democratic governor with a black Stetson hat.

“The hat was one of my favorite birthday gifts from a senator that I don’t always agree with but always admire,” Hickenlooper said.

It isn’t clear if Crowder knew the governor had a birthday this month, but the hat fit perfectly with the theme of Hickenlooper’s 2012 State of the State address during his second year as governor:

The third is a House Joint Resolution 1006 sponsored by Democratic Rep. Ed Vigil of Fort Garland and Republican Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling. It outlines which projects across the state can qualify for money related to drinking water and pollution.

More measures are moving through the process as the legislative session approaches the halfway mark (next week — Saturday, March 7!) though most of the major bills are caught in the partisan gridlock of a Democratic House and Republican Senate.

House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst struck a different tone than the Democratic governor in describing the task force’s report, a day after it voted to advance nine recommendation that avoided many of the thorny issues surrounding oil and gas drilling.

“This may be a matter of cognitive dissonance. I think he may be a little more pleased than I am with the results of the task force,” the Boulder Democrat told The Denver Post in an interview. “I am a little disappointed that we didn’t get further along on the real crux of the issue which is local control — the ability for local residents and property owners and communities to have more of a say on oil and gas development that is very close to them.”

A bill in the Colorado House Wednesday would bank traffic cameras, like this one at East Sixth Avenue and East Speer Boulevard in Denver. (Helen H. Richardson/Denver Post file photo)

A collection of Colorado mayors and police chiefs, led by a coalition funded by the traffic camera industry, is trying to put a red light in front of a bill to ban those pesky traffic cameras used for issuing citations.

House Bill 1098 has its first hearing Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the House Transportation and Energy Committee. A similar bill failed last year.

Nine cities and a total of 12 communities use the cameras, collectively raking in more than $14 million last year. The margins are high. Denver, for example, collected more than $6.5 million in fines and spent just $2.6 million to operate the program, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.

The Traffic Safety Coalition said the larger point is public safety and cited statistics and media reports that indicated the cameras are helping.

“Law enforcement officials understand the dangers affecting their communities, particularly the dangers we face on our roadways,” according to a letter to the committee released Tuesday night and signed by officials from Northglenn, Cherry Hills Village, Lone Tree. Sheridan, Greenwood Village, Pueblo and Fort Collins. :Local police departments know the needs of their communities and understand the need for the added enforcement on our roadways. We believe they should have every available technology at their disposal to enforce the crucial traffic safety laws that keep us safe and hold red light runners accountable.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is bringing together a big group of powerful movers and shakers, some of them potentially masked, for a fundraiser Wednesday night.

The Mardi Gras-themed event — masks encouraged — has a list of “co-chairs” that include only big names: developers and home-builders, oil and gas executives, real estate executives, bankers and insurance executives, a hotel magnate, a DISH Network executive, top-dollar PR spinmeisters, high-powered lawyers and lobbyists, and Hancock’s chief of staff, Janice Sinden. Before joining his administration, Sinden was a high-powered connector as the leader of Colorado Concern, a group that represents prominent business leaders.

Denver mayor Michael Hancock. (Denver Post file)

Add to the list “honored guest” Gov. John Hickenlooper, Hancock’s predecessor as mayor of Denver.

It would be tough to single out just a few of the co-chairs for Wednesday’s event without dimming the wattage of others. Suffice it to say, these are folks who get things done behind the scenes in metro Denver and beyond. The guest list makes this potentially the biggest political fundraiser of Denver’s quiet municipal election season.

Gov. John Hickenlooper delivers his fifth State of the State address in January to Colorado lawmakers. (Photo By Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)

A new poll from Quinnipiac University show voters approve of the job Gov. John Hickenlooper is doing, are lukewarm about their two U.S. senators and are OK with legalizing marijuana, although most of them don’t light up.

Colorado voters approve 53 percent to 37 percent the job Hickenlooper is doing, compared to a 48-46 percent approval rating in a July 16, 2014, Quinnipiac poll. And voters say 58 percent to 31 percent that they are optimistic about the next four years with Hickenlooper as governor. The Democrat beat Republican Bob Beauprez by 3 percentage points in November.

“Colorado voters are as happy with ‘Hick’ as they were before an ugly reelection campaign,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll.

WASHINGTON — Colorado’s two U.S. senators are pressing their colleagues to visit the Denver area and investigate the problems facing a new hospital being built for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

In a letter sent to the top lawmakers on the Senate Veterans Affairs’ Committee, Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner request that the panel take a look at the VA construction site in Aurora and hold a field hearing on the troubled project — which is significantly late and over-budget.

It’s expected to cost at least $1 billion, but no one knows for sure, and it could open in 2017, though that’s an open question too.

“The visit will provide an opportunity for the Committee to see first-hand the extensive management and financial issues that continue to plague this project,” wrote Bennet, a Democrat, and Gardner, a Republican, in a letter dated Feb. 20.

Last year, a federal appeals board ruled against the VA and found the agency had breached its deal with contractor Kiewit-Turner. The decision prompted Kiewit-Turner to threaten to abandon the job and only some last-minute negotiating made it possible for workers to return to the site. A long-term deal between the VA and Kiewit-Turner, however, has yet to be signed, wrote the senators.

“While a short-term agreement between the VA and Kiewit-Turner has been reached that has allowed for construction to resume, agreement on a solution that allows for the satisfactory completion of the facility has not been reached,” they wrote. “We hope the Committee examines the issues at the Denver Replacement Facility to develop a fuller understanding of the project’s ongoing challenges and to help us identify a long-term solution to complete the work.”

Lynn Bartels thinks politics is like sports but without the big salaries and protective cups. The Washington Post's "The Fix" blog has named her one of Colorado's best political reporters and tweeters.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.